Reaction Paper: An Inconvenient Truth

The documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore is an eye opener and also a wake up call for me. I have heard about global warming before, probably back in grade school but I knew a little about it or I only knew the meaning of the term global warming. The documentary gave me a deeper understanding of what global warming really is and what will be the consequences if we do not do something about it. The way the documentary is presented is very effective. Al Gore defined and described global warming in a way a non-science-loving-environmentalist-geek would understand. Most likely, that would be the reason why it won so many awards.

The documentary showed the basic process of global warming which is the greenhouse gases are trapping the sun's heat in the earth's atmosphere which makes the earth warm. The greenhouse gases are caused by producing too much CO2. When Al Gore compared the old and new photos of the same place, the difference was very obvious. I can clearly see that the glaciers are starting to melt. Al Gore also showed graphs and charts showing that every year the production of CO2 is getting higher also earth's temperature is getting warmer.

Other nations are trying to do something about global warming. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the signatory nations. The objective of the protocol is the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Unfortunately, United States did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol even if they are the country with the highest production or emission of CO2. It is just too sad that some US officials are ignoring and neglecting the global warming issue for the sake of progress. They are